Two North Carolina-based university health systems have announced an agreement to construct the state’s first standalone children’s hospital.

UNC Health and Duke Health are partnering to build a new children's health system that will include North Carolina's first freestanding pediatric hospital, the pair announced Tuesday. | The academic health systems' vision,

The facility, called “N.C. Children’s,” was characterized as a “decade-long goal” for both institutions and is expected to lessen the strain on other regional facilities amid increased demand for care.

Two of the world’s top academic health systems are right here in North Carolina, and they are uniting to create something special. UNC Health and Duke Health will create a new children’s health system in North Carolina,

"Faculty from both schools will serve as clinical staff. They will also teach medical students, pediatric residents, fellows, nurses and other healthcare professionals, and they'll do so in facilities built specifically for children," said Dr. Craig Albanese, the CEO of Duke University Health System.

The Triangle's preeminent healthcare systems announced a partnership to help advance a $2 billion children's health campus in North Carolina.

North Carolina's Children's health campus is only dedicated to children through a partnership between UNC Health and Duke Health systems.

The health systems announced on Tuesday a plan to build a more than 100-acre campus for the hospital called, NC Children’s.

UNC Health and Duke University Health System, based in Chapel Hill, N.C., and Durham, N.C., respectively, are uniting to build a comprehensive healthcare campus, featuring the state's first freestanding children's hospital.